


Once Upon a Wormhole

by NinjaBurrito22



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:36:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28928169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjaBurrito22/pseuds/NinjaBurrito22
Summary: The Mutiverse Theory has only been scratched by the team of the SGC who have had many encounters with alternate realities. In one reality Martouf finds himself on a dying planet with the last surviving member of a dying people. His heart has been crushed with the death of his mate Jolinar and the rejection of one Samantha Carter, he doesn't have much left to lose. Until...her.
Relationships: Martouf/OC
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Is there anyone left in the world still watching Stargate?

The sun was warm on this planet, the rays intense and unyielding for a normal human. Martouf luckily was not a normal human for inside him lived a powerful being that called itself Lantash and allowed Martouf to survive the intensity of the sun and the high levels of radiation. He scanned the horizon, one hand blocking out the light as he tracked the top of a far off dune.

The Tok'ra had received a distress signal coming from this planet a few weeks ago by long range radio. Since the planet was not part of the Stargate system they had to send someone by Shuttle craft. To keep the Goa'uld from detecting the craft Martouf had been forced to travel without light speed and made the journey extremely boring despite the companionship of Lantash who was a bit sarcastic for a symbiote.

He was beginning to regret volunteering for this mission since it seemed like it had been a massive waste of time. The Sourin had once helped the Tok'ra thousands of years ago to hide from the Goa'uld while getting on their feet, but once the Tok'ra was forced into hiding the two people had lost contact. The deep space distress signal they received had been their first attempt at communication for millennia and Martouf was curious at meeting the people that was Lantash's first host. But why had he been so quick to volunteer for such a long mission?

 _You know why_. Lantash's deep voice answered Martouf's silent question. _Because that Samantha woman would be visiting her father and Salmek and you wished to avoid her._

Martouf hissed and started down one side of a dune watching the pinging scanner in his hand trying to pinpoint the origin of the beacon. _Coward._

"Don't act like you didn't want to avoid her as well." He shot back, offended by the tone in Lantash's internal voice. Reaching the bottom of the dune he spun around slowly looking for the strongest source of signal before heading towards the setting suns.

 _I like her, and she carries the memories our most beloveds but she is not Jolinar or Rosha._ He stated matter of fact though a tone of deep sadness was apparent.

"I am aware of that." The signal seemed to be getting stronger and excitement seized the man forcing him into a sprint his eyes locked on the scanner.

 _If you truly understood that, then you wouldn't feel the need to avoid her._ Or avoid seeing her and O'Neil together but Lantash was kind enough to leave that last part out. Sam and O'Neil may not be allowed to be together due to the strange rules of Tau'ri hierarchy but it was not lost on anyone how they feel and caused more pain to Martouf then he cared to admit.

The scanner in his hand was going crazy as he decided to ignore his companion and ran not noticing when the white sand of the desert morphed into the hard surface of granite. The sound of rushing water could be heard from up ahead and the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees as he continued haphazardly like a man about to finish a master level puzzle.

 _Watch out_! Lantash seized control from Martouf, forcing him into the background as the older being stopped him from walking off the edge of a cliff and into a deep ravine. He stood on the edge for a moment looking down to the rushing waters below that would have easily ripped them to shreds if the fall hadn't killed them first.

 _Thank you._ For a disembodied voice, Martouf almost sounded breathless and relieved at being saved from a horrible death.

"It would have been my death as well." Lantash stated and marveled at the sound of the deep alien voice from a human mouth. He allowed Martouf to have the reigns most of the time and enjoyed sitting back to enjoy the ride but it was nice to be in control from time to time and hear his voice. He took a few deep breaths of the bone dry air then mentally stepped back, Martouf easily transitioning to take control. He glanced at the scanner in his hand and frowned.

"It says the signal is coming from right here." He turned looking at the ravine that spanned several miles in each direction. "There's nothing here."

 _Maybe we are standing on it, it may be buried._ Lantash suggested.

Martouf walked to the exact spot the signal was coming from which happened to be only a foot from the cliff and squatted down, clipping the scanner to his belt and began to dig around in the surface dirt. He moved slowly around in the dirt, mindful of the cliffs edge as he looked for anything that would give off a signal powerful enough to reach the current world the Tok'ra used but he was finding anything beside a few palm sized rocks.

Without warning a sound like thunder boomed around him causing the earth beneath him to shake as if the whole cliff side had been stuck with an imaginary bolt of electricity. He stilled, holding his breath as the sound faded away just as quickly as I had come. Glancing up at the red and pink sky he saw no clouds or hint of a storm which didn't help explain the thunder. He didn't know much about this planet but he assumed weather patterns would be similar in some way anywhere someone went.

Martouf stood up slowly, cautiously listening to the air and the distant sound of rushing water in the ravine below, all his senses on high alert telling him something was wrong. Lantash was oddly quiet as well allowing Martouf to feel out the tension in the air as if a massive storm was brewing over head.

 _We should head back to the shuttle for the time being, bring it back and check the rav-_ Lantash's orders were cut off as Martouf shouted, the whole side of the cliff crumbling in an instant and began to slide into the ravine without warning. Martouf scramble along the landslide of rock that quickly swept him towards the ravine. He grabbed desperately to what looked like unbroken solid ground only to find it crumbling under his body weight as he slipped closer and closer to where the lip of the cliff had originally been only moments before. In one second he was struggling through a land slide and in the next he was in free fall, over the edge with what appeared to be the entire cliff falling around him into the ravine.

"Shit!" The word came out in a strangled scream, choosing to use one of O'Neil's more appropriate idioms since no other seemed to be more suitable for the present situation. Half way down the ravine Martouf struck something solid his head whipping back at the sudden halt before smashing back into the surface of whatever out cropping of rock he had struck, he was vaguely aware of something wrapping around his wrist, something that felt almost like thick vines stopping him from sliding off what even he had landed on.

Martouf black out, no longer worried about his impending death.

\-----

Something wet slid across Martouf's face, beads of fluid running down his neck and soaking the collar of his tunic. He groaned and rolled to his side, trying to escape the wet thing rubbing all over his face and regretted moving.

"Stop." A soft feminine voice commanded and a hand grasped his shoulder and pushed him on his back again, after a few moments his face was wet again and his brain told him it was water and cloth. He swallowed trying to ease the pain in his dry throat and attempted to open his eyes. He could see the bulkhead of a ship and a window showed the sun had set turning the red and pink sky to a black and purple hue. Martouf continue to scan the inside of the unfamiliar vessel till his eyes met another set of eyes looking down at him. He paused as the face focused and he could finally make out details; light golden skin, brownish-yellow eyes and bone white hair that fell in rivers over her shoulder. "Your finally awake."

He tried to swallow hopping to ease the dry and dusty feeling of his mouth, instead all he managed to do was instigate a coughing fit. The women took a step back from him to give him space and once he recovered she had produced a silver bowel with water in it. He grabbed the bowel and sucked down the water as quickly as possible, not fearing poison or tampering considering she could have killed him if she wanted him dead. He drained the bowel desperately and laid-back waiting for the pain in his chest to subside enough for him to talk. The women stared at him patiently, one snow laden eye brow slightly arch with curiosity and an almost amused glint in her eye.

"Who are you?" Martouf croaked out, his throat burned with the effort. Lantash was quiet, almost sleeping which was normal if he had to exert himself in order to health Martouf, but he was going worried. Martouf could feel that he still had a deadly amount of injuries and if Lantash was already taxed out then he could still die.

She turned her head slightly, an odd gesture as if she were listening to someone talking in her ear, she listening intently to nothing then turned her gaze back to him. "My distress signal was for the Tok'ra. You are not Tok'ra." She had a heavy accent and had trouble forming some of the words and when she spoke it was barely above a whisper as if she did not speak often.

Martouf propped himself up on his elbows and looked about the small barren ship. The ship was all smooth silver with a few lighted panels with flashing indicators or foreign numbers and letter. He was lying in a small padded pod probably meant for sleeping since there was nowhere else for someone to rest outside of a cock pit chair while the foreign women watched and waited for him to respond. "I am Martouf, host to the Tok'ra known as Lantash."

She cocked her head again as of some invisible person was speaking before shaking her head causing a cascade of white hair to loosen from a loose tie. "No, Tok'ra like the Goa'uld eyes glow. You are no Tok'ra." She kept her sentences short and clipped, her words almost completely devoid of emotion though her eyes held several conflicting emotions passing quickly without rest.

Martouf smiled at the simple logic of her words, the Sourin had parted ways with the Tok'ra so long ago that there was no way this woman had ever met one and depending on how well the people kept their records then she probably had limited information. "When my symbiote, Lantash is….in the driver's seat then my eyes may glow, but when I am in control they do not."

She processed the information, chewing on the information as she turned and picked up the silver bowel. She walked to a panel in the wall and filled it again with water. "Then I require to speak with the Tok'ra Lantash." She handed him the water and waited expectantly.

He drank the cooled water in two gulps and handed the bowel back. "I'm sorry but he is too weak at the moment. He must have healed may injuries and now rests to recuperate."

She again filled the bowel for him before sitting on the edge of the pod. "You broke several ribs and had a punctured lung from the fall on my ship. I had wondered how you managed to survive."

Confusion flickered openly on his face. "Can you explain?"

Without warning the women reached out and lightly slid a golden hued finger down Martouf's temple. Her light touch traced a path down his check, along his jaw and down his neck stopping at the collar of his tunic. He didn't move, transfixed by sudden touch of intimacy and the sad distant look in her eyes. "You fell when the cliff crumble, my ship was cloaked and you landed on it." She snatched her hand from his skin as if she had been hit with electricity and moved away, rubbing her hand on her thigh. "The ship woke me up when the event started and I managed to grab you before you slid off."

"The ship woke you up?" He could feel his skin tinging where she had touched him and resisted to urge to scratch.

She looked out the front window and he noticed she had parked her ship next to his, the moon glinting off the gold plate of his shuttle craft. "My world ended a long time ago, there weren't many Sourin left when I was born and even fewer by the time I reached puberty." She ran a hand along one of the silver walls lovingly. "When I was young my father told me of the Tok'ra whom left us to keep us safe. We tried for years to send out a distress signal but the ionized atmosphere caused by the volcanic activity made it impossible. When I went into stasis I set up the beacon and set it to wake me if anyone responded."

"How long were you sleeping?"

She chewed on her lip, her yellow eyes shining. "I used to wake up every couple of months to check the beacon and to see how much the landscape changed so I could move the ship to a safer location. Finally, I set the beacon on the ship, put it in the safest place and went to sleep indefinitely." She continued to look out of the dues and the purple night. "That was seventy-five years ago according to the ship."

 _She has been alone a long time._ Lantash commented from nowhere. Relief surged through Martouf knowing the Tok'ra was going to be ok.

"The ship must have woken me up when you entered the atmosphere. I was trying to get out of the ravine that hadn't been there seventy-five years ago when I felt you hit the hull of my ship. I must admit I was surprised to see another person for the first time since my father died." She walked back to him and bowed. "Even if you are not Tok'ra it's nice to meet you. I am Eelien, last of Sourin."

Martouf's eyes flashed and Eelien looked at up him shocked as the deep voice came from his lips. "You have met Martouf my host. I am Lantash of Tok'ra, it is a pleasure to meet a Sourin again after so long."

She smiled slightly and stood up straight. "Will you allow me to leave this place with you?"

"Why haven't you used this ship to escape?" Lantash questioned as he stood from what he recognized as a stasis pod. His body hurt but now that he was awake again the body was already healing fast. "From what I remember the Sourin were quite and advanced race and should have already achieved space flight."

She shook her head, brushing the white hair behind her slightly pointed ear. "The planet became unstable and swallowed whole cities in the blink of an eye, people and technology destroyed in a moment. Advancement is halted when natural disaster like that occur. This craft was used for geological survey and cannot make it pasted the ionized atmosphere, its pure luck that the signal managed to make it through the 'cloud' long enough for it to reach you."

Lantash moved about the ship stretching his legs and gauging the technology of the craft. It was rudimentary and simple which surprised him, the stasis pod she used to sleep was probably the most advanced thing in the ship. He felt guilty that none of the Tok'ra had ever come back to see how their friends had been fairing, in their defense they didn't want to lead the Goa'uld to them, but he still felt responsible for their decline and eventual destruction.

"So, can I go with you?" He kept his back to her, they hadn't planned to bring anyone back with them, they just expected to help in anyway and leave, no one had been prepared for this development. They couldn't leave her here to die alone on a dead planet either but they wouldn't have the resources for two people to live in his shuttle for the weeks it would take to get back home.

"How well do you understand the technology of that pod?" Lantash asked turning and pointing his chin at the pod. If they could move it to his ship, then she could sleep for the journey and they wouldn't need to worry about running out of food or water or over taxing the CO2 scrubbers.

Eelien looked at the pod and back to him, cocking her head again like it was a nervous tick. "I designed and built it so everything."

That stunned him a little and couldn't keep the surprise from showing on his face at which point she smiled. Martouf's laughter sounded in his mind also seeming to enjoy his shock. "Can you install it in our shuttle?" When she nodded Lantash took a step back and allowed Martouf to take over, he was spent from healing the body and would need a significant amount of time to recuperate.

"We need to be leaving soon, this trip will take a significant amount of time and you will need to sleep to conserve resources." He stopped when she took a step away from him, bringing her arms to her chest in a defensive move. "What's wrong?"

"You want me to sleep?" Right, she had finally met another person and they were asking her to go back in stasis how could she trust him to wake her up?

He walked swiftly to her, the sound of his simple boots clicking on the metal floor and grabbed her hands in his own. She flinched when their skin touched but he ignored it as he pulled her hands away from her body to rest them on his chest over his heart. "I promise once we reach my home world I will wake up. You won't have to be alone again." Eelien flexed her hands under his and closed her eyes as she left his heart beat below her figures and again cocked her head.

"Tekmak suggests I can trust you."

"Who's Tekmak?" He asked quietly, there was no way that she had a symbiote in her, none had been left behind when the Tok'ra left.

"The culmination of all my people's history, technology and writings into one artificially Intelligent computer that was implanted in my mind. I believe my people got the idea from your symbiotes and their genetic memory." She stated automatically with no hesitation as if she had been practicing that line her whole life.

 _Interesting, very interesting._ Lantash commented tiredly. _I wonder if her implant can record and store new information or if it only carries old information._ When Martouf didn't ask why Lantash wanted to know how her implant worked, Lantash continued. _Our alliance with Tau'ri demands technology but the Council doesn't wish to provide weapons. But something like that implant might be of interest to someone like Sam._

Martouf flinched at the name and released Eelien's hands. "Let's get going before this planet decides to finally take its last breath."

\----

Several hours later the stasis pod from Eelien's ship was installed in Martouf's shuttle with almost no resistance from the conflicting technology and he found himself enamored by her quick mind and precise hands as she connected the power source. Once it was done she sat in the pod as he checked the ships system to make sure the power draw wouldn't cripple their egress from the planet. Once all the systems were checked he walked to her pod and flashed a small smile. "Is there anything you need, anything you may not wish to leave behind?"

She shook her head and began to braid her long white hair over her shoulder. "Tekmak is all that I need and she is with me always."

He laughed and helped her lay back in the padded pod. "She?" He asked more of himself than her.

Eelien nodded and folded her hands over her chest. "Yes, Tekmak is a she. She was meant to be Mother of our technology, to bring us into the new world before…. well you know before it all ended." Martouf nodded as if he knew what she meant when really he didn't and moved to pull up the lid of the pod to start the stasis process. "Wait!" He paused and looked into her bright brown-yellow eyes which stared back at him, panicked. "You promise you will awaken me? I may be in stasis but I still dream and sometimes those dreams are not pleasant and I can't wake up." When he didn't speak she grabbed his hand, her grip tight with fear which was etched in her face. "Please, Martouf."

He finally patted her hand, taken off guard by her intense fear of either dreaming or never being able to wake. "I promise Eelien, I will not let you sleep any longer than necessary." The taste of her name on his lips sent a tingle through his stomach, an odd feeling he had lost when Jolinar had died.

He watched as she closed her eyes and released his hand, completely trusting him to keep his word despite the fact that they had only met a few hours ago. He slid the lid closed and manually sealed the pod since they didn't have time to hook in and integrate the entire system into his shuttle. The pod sealed with a cool _whoosh_ of air and the window fogged up leaving only a hint of gold skin and snowy hair beneath it.

 _Stop staring and get us home._ Latash commanded his voice taking on a biting edge, grouchy from all the energy he had expended in healing Martouf.

"Right, it's going to be a long flight and you're in a terrible mood, this will be nice."


	2. Chapter 2

Eelien stood in the repurposed transport ship the Tok'ra had allowed her to barrow to check the status of her home planet, fingers tapping on the console while the computer plotted a course back to the world they were hiding at. In the last year she had been with the Tok'ra the planet had completely succumb to the volcanic activity and left most of its surface rife with lava and storms. She had managed to locate her old ship and get it on board. She looked at it and clicked her tongue, the poor thing was in rough condition and would take a long time to repair even with the guidance of Tekmak and her new associates. She had spent most of her life in the tiny ship and could with good couscous leave it on the planet to be destroyed like that rest of her species and their advancements.

The console beeped indicating an incoming message. She huffed and hit the button already knowing who would be calling. Anise's face blipped on the viewing screen, her beautiful full lips managed by the stern expression she always carried when in control of her host Freya.

"You are late." She stated simply, her deep voice carried hints of irritation.

"I apologize; it took longer than expected to excavate my ship. I will be back in a few hours." Eelien new there was no point in arguing with the women when she was in one of her moods.

"Fine, there is no know Goa'uld ships in the area so you should be fine to cloak and use the Hyper Drive." She acted as if she was going to cut off the transmission and stop. When she spoke again it was in the voice of Freya who gave Eelien a warm smile. "I thought you might like to know Martouf has returned from his mission to Netu and has been hurt."

Eelien gripped the console to keep her hands from shaking. Freya had deduced early on that Eelien had feelings for the man and had been kind enough to pretend like she didn't know.

"What about Selmak and the Tau'ri he was with?" Her voice was even, if he was damaged enough that he might die the Freya would have said more.

"Selmak is recovering and the humans are more or less well." Eelien nodded. "The Tau'ri will be coming to us in a few weeks to settle the schedule of the Peace Summit between our people. We would like you to be a part of the welcoming committee."

"Why?"

Freya smiled her warm smile and Anise's voice came through. "Major Carter is brilliant for a Tau'ri and I think she would be interested in your implant."

Right, in exchange for her being allowed to stay with the Tok'ra despite not being able to blend with them due to Tekmak, she promised to show the people of Earth how it and her stasis pod worked since they were close in technological advancements.

"I will be there as soon as possible." She nodded her head and cut off the transmission before Anise or Freya could say anything else. It took several minutes for her to regain control of her emotions from the information of Martouf's injuries.

Tekmak brushed her mind leaving expressions of concern in its wake. The implant and AI didn't really communicate with words so much as with impressions, information access and emotions it had learned. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

  
\-----

Eelien fidgeted in her sand colored tunic, pulling at the hem with nervous fingers. She preferred her jump-suite style clothes from her home world, with its form fitting cloth and temperature regulated network. The clothes the Tok'ra had procured for her were to loose and felt like they would fall off at any moment.

"Stop twitching." Anise chided, smacking her hand away from the hem of her tunic like a mother would a child. Eelien stuck her tongue out at the older women from under the cloth mask she used to block out the sand. "I saw that."

She crossed her arms and looked across the sand to wear Martouf stood patiently waiting for the Tau'ri to activate their Chappai. He smiled behind his hand and gave her a little wink causing her heart to hammer against her rib cage. Damn him. He had no idea what he did to her when he smiled, his blue eyes catching the light and dazzling white teeth blinding her with its brilliance. She glared back at him for a moment then turned her attention to the gate. Why did she feel it necessary to be rude to him when he was only kind to her? It was new for her to deal with other people and how they affected her after being alone for so long, but in the last year she should have learned something. She should also be nicer since he almost died when he returned from Netu and she visited several times but only when he was sleeping because she was a coward.

She could feel his gaze boring into her but she refused to meet his gaze and when the gate activated her was happy for the distraction. Eelien stepped back in a panic as water shot out from the circular gate kicking up dirt and choking the air. "What the-!" Anise grabbed her arm and steadied her, an unkind smile danced along her tight lips. The water stabilized rippling like a pond hanging in the air within the gate. Tekmak brushed her mind, fascinated by the wormhole device and instantly started running equations to finger out how it worked. Up until now she had only traveled by ship with the Tok'ra, she knew of the Chappai, or Stargate as the Tau'ri called it, but it was her first time actually seeing it activate.

Four figures emerged through the gate first, clad in green clothes and black vests then were followed by four more carrying large black cases and bags. Martouf instantly stepped up to the first three people and clasped hands with a tall fair skinned man with think black lensed glasses.

"Daniel Jackson, welcome." He walked to a dark skinned man with a gold band on his forehead and shook hands again. "Teal'c, I'm glad to see you once again." Another fair skinned man didn't smile or shake his hand, indeed he gave and awkward half wave and walked past him to Selmak. Martouf didn't seem to worried about the brush off as he warped his arms around a yellow haired woman. "Samantha." His voice was light with a hint of emotion that made her stomach roll.

Eelien wrinkled her nose, she had heard of the women Samantha Carter that carried the memories of his lost mate and he in turn now carried affection for the human.

"Change your face, you look sick" Anise hissed before walking to the group and motioned for the people caring the black cases' to fallow her. Jacob waited patiently for his daughter to disengage from Martouf before sweeping her in a strong hug. Once all the pleasantries were said and done the group began its short trek across the sandy desert to the transportation rings that would take them to the crystal caves of the Tok'ra. She watched the Tok'ra and Tau'ri mingle and talked, some comfortable with one another and others more strained.

"You're a new face." Eelien looked a couple of feet behind her, finding the man who didn't great Martouf, walking slowly as if to keep pace while in her blind spot.

"How can you tell; my face is covered." She replied pretending like she wasn't bothered by the fact she had been unaware of his presence behind her.

"Your eyes are yellow and the skin on your hands and face is gold, not like Teal'cs, but actual gold. I have never seen you or anyone like you before." He carried a long necked weapon in his hands and even though his walk suggested ease, his eyes watched every person and their every movement.

"I am Eelien." She stated simply.

A sarcastic snigger came from behind her. "Alien, that's fitting."

"Not Alien, Ee-lee-ain." She stressed the proper pronunciation. Alien, that would be a stupid name, poor soul who ever carried it.

"Right, that's what I said. What about the other one?"

"Other one what?" She stopped and turned to him getting agitated that he continued to follow behind her. "And what about you, what are you called?"

"I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill." He also stopped, hand still resting on his weapon and watching her intently from behind black lensed glasses they all seemed to wear. He was a very untrusting fellow. "I'm talking about the snake in your brain, what's it called?"

Snake? Did he mean symbiote?

"I'm sorry Colonel but Eelien is not a host. She is merely a friend of the Tok'ra." Martouf must have notice their conversation and come to save her from the rude man. He rested a hand on her shoulder and she resisted the urge to shrug it off or smack him. He was so careless, so unaware of how he affected her.

"Marty, I didn't know your people were so welcoming of others when you're so secretive."

"Marty?" She asked.

"Coronel likes nicknames, generally it's a sign of friendship or familiarity but for him it's a well-placed slap." Martouf relied.

"Like insulting people you don't know or referring to the people you have come to a peace summit with and referring to them as snakes?" She asked glaring at the man and deciding she didn't like him.

"It's part of my charm." He shrugged and motioned for them to walk ahead of him, not trusting them for a moment to walk in the back.

"You'll get used to him, he's a good guy when it counts." He placed a hand on the small of her back and urged her to continue forward. That was enough touching from him. This time she did slap his hand away and quickly danced from his reach.

"You go play with the Tau'ri, I will be in the hanger when they're ready to talk about my implant as promised." There was an out cropping of rock on the surface a couple of meters from the Rings that lead into a large camouflaged hanger where they kept their shuttles and space craft, Eelien had stored her ship there while she slowly rebuilt it.

Rubbing the hand she smacked, a troubled look crossed his face. "I will send Samantha to you once they are settled." Great, she'd get to spend the day catering to his surrogate mate.

"Fine." She huffed and started walking to the hanger, when she glanced over her shoulder she found Martouf running to the last of the group waiting at the rings and the Coronel lazily walking behind. Seeing Martouf so...peppy today was making her insides squeeze.

As soon as she was in the hanger she changed back into her black and dark blue jump suit with the thick high boots and felt instant relief when the climate control kicked in and her core temperature dropped despite the heat.

"Alright Tekmak, let's see if we can get our home space worthy." Tekmak immediately brought up all the information if how the ship worked and the new information they had learned from the Goa'uld technology they had picked up from the other ships.

Several hours passed, Eelien covered in oil and dirt pulled herself out from under her ship and threw the tool she held across the hanger. "Shumik!" She shouted at no one in particular.

"Whoa!" A startled shout responded. The women named Samantha ducked, narrowly missing the flying tool.

Eelien stood up quickly brushing at the oil and grim on her jump-suite. "I apologize; I didn't hear you come in." She said quickly when the shocked eyes of the other women found hers.

"It's ok, I have had similar moments of irritation when working on a project. What are you doing, maybe I can help?" Samantha adjusted her green jacket and pushed stay blond hair from her face.

"I'm trying to retro fit my ship with a Goa'uld hyper drive." Her voice was blunt and devoid of inflection and she mentally kicked herself for taking her frustrations out on the unsuspecting visitor.

"Yup, we have had some issues trying to blend their technology with our own." She gestured asking for permission to examine the ship. After a moment Eelien nodded her consent and walked to a low table with tools and a small hologram box.

"What do you call this kind of craft?"

"I call it Oolan, named after my father since he designed this particular Geological Survey Craft or GSC. It was my home for a very long time."

The look on Samantha's face was one of pity and understanding. "Martouf talks highly of you, says your intelligent and a quick learner, though he mentioned a bit rough around the edges."

"Yeah, he talks lot about you too." Eelien bit out, a hard edge evident. She didn't particularly like being pitied.

Samantha looked uncomfortable and continued to study the silver hull. "What does Shumik mean?" She finally asked after the tension in the air got too thick.

An uncontrollable laughter bubbled up in Eelien and burst from her mouth, she doubled over holding her stomach as she wheezed. After a few moments the laughing fit passed and she ran her hand under her eyes wiping away tears. "I apologize again, hearing you say a word that would have caused my father to snatch the taste from my mouth was unexpectedly hilarious."

"I see, it's one of those words. I think I like it, Shumik." She smiled as she repeated the foul word.

Whelp, Eelien officially like Major Samantha Carter and that caused even more irritation. The two women stared at one another of a moment, Eelien chewing on the sudden though when she remembered the holo-box. "Right, here." She picked up the box and walked it Samantha. "This is a complete holographic scan of my implant. I know you're not interested in the AI aspect of the implant but the storage is unlimited and small enough to be implanted in a person or anything really." Samantha opened the box and a hologram of the hexagon shaped hardware.

"Humans are a little touchy on the subject of implants but I hope to make a small data base our SG teams can use to access while off world and record new information. Maybe like a wrist watch or something."

"It's better to be in the body so it has constant electrical current but do with it as you will, I have held up my end of the bargain."

She closed the box and slipped it in the beast pocket of her green jacket. "I'll head back to the conference room, they should be finishing up soon and well head back to the Stargate to set up the meetings with our leaders." She walked to the opening of the hanger and stop, taking in Eelien where she stood, looking her up and down with an unreadable expression on her face. "Your planet had no Stargate correct? So your race evolved organically without being seeded by the Goa'uld." Eelien shrugged in response. "It's just, your so close to human looking and yet so alien looking at the same time. It's the first time we have ever run across someone like you, I wish I could have met your people. I mean your skin, its fleck with gold and reflects light, I noticed that while you were waiting at the gate, I assume that's why you were covered up?" Her voice grew in volume with excitement as she talked. When Eelien didn't say anything in return, Samantha smiled nervously before walking a little more and stopped to turn again. "I don't want to be rude, I just hope someday I can study your anatomy to learn more."

Eelien felt like she should be offended by the statement but found nothing concrete to be offended by. "The Coronel used that name also, Alien. What does it mean?" She asked instead.

"Just means 'not of Earth or not native to a land'." She replied still looking at her like she was some specimen on exhibit.

"No matter what I will always be considered an alien by that definition since I have no people nor planet now." Eelien whispered angrily, pushing her hair behind her ears, a nervous habit. Samantha's lips parted but before she would reply, an alarm sounded loudly with blaring red lights taking over the hanger lighting and horns sounding from all directions. "What's going on?!" Samantha shouted over the alarm.

"Were under attack." Eelien replied simply and hoped Martouf was safe, he was still healing and Lantash wouldn't have the ability to heal anymore major injuries at the moment.

Tekmak pushed a feeling though her brain, disappointment at what the AI saw as misplaced worry.


	3. Chapter 3

People yelled and ran in and out of the council chamber in the after math of chaos and destruction. O’Neill was still staring at the dead man he continued to hold down, his eyes wide and breaths hard. Martouf touched him lightly on the shoulder. “Jack O’Neill, he is dead.” Jack didn’t move, he just stared at the gaping bloody hole in Major Grahams head. Martouf knelt down and pried the phaser ring from the man’s body, the ring he had tried to assassinate Supreme High Counselor Pre’sus with and when that failed, he turned it on himself. “Jack.” He said again and looked over at Daniel hoping he could help; Daniel just shook his head.  
“I know Marty, I know.” Slowly he released each finger from the man and sat back on his heels, surveying the body with a blank expression. Then he stood up quickly, knocking Martouf back with his sudden movement. “Can someone tell me what the hell is going on!” He bellowed, wiping the blood from his hands on his pants.  
“You saved me Coronel O’Neill.” Pre’sus stating, shaking where he stood surround by guards staring at the man that attempted to take his life.  
“Yeah, no problem. Now someone needs to explain to me why someone I have known for years just tried to kill you.” He pointed at the body.  
Anise walked into the room and surveyed the destruction. “I can probably help you with that.” She stated and motion for people behind her to start cleaning up the mess in the conference hall. When one of the Tok’ra attempted to move the body, Jack grabbed his hand.  
“Watch it pal, that’s one of ours.” He hissed.  
“Jack, one of us just tried to kill one of them, that’s enough hostility for one day don’t you think?” Daniel whispered in hushed tones, trying to impress upon his leader the severity of the situation. Jack nodded and allowed them to move the body out of the room.  
“Don’t worry Dr. Jackson, we are aware Major Graham did this unwillingly. We believe he may be a Za’tarc.” Anise supplied. “You may want to start sending people back to warn your superiors that they may have been infiltrated by the Goa’uld. “  
“Infiltrated how?” Samantha walked into the room catching the end of the conversation. Eelien appeared behind her barely reaching her shoulder being considerably shorter that the Major. Martouf noticed her white hair was streaked with greases and dirt and her jump-suite was filthy as was how she looked most of the time.  
Anise looked uncomfortable as if she didn’t know how to proceed, Martouf stepped in knowing that Coronel O’Neill was going to be extremely unhappy with the information the Tok’ra had kept from the Tau’ri. “The Goa’uld have learned how to reprogram people and use them to preform specific tasks with no memories of the tampering, we call them Za’tarc.”  
O’Neill looked at Samantha and back to Martouf. “Your telling me you knew the snakes were making sleeper agents and didn’t think to share that with us?” He walked swiftly to Martouf and stuck a finger in his face. “I am so sick of the Tok’ra not telling us stuff till it’s to freaking late!”  
From the corner of his eye he saw Eelien move, a blur of gold and white as she moved faster than his eyes could track. One moment she was standing near Samantha and the next she was next to Jack, her hand wrapped around his wrist prying it away from Martouf’s shirt in a crushing grip. Jack was shocked as he struggled to break her grip, Samantha and Tea’lc reacted bringing up weapons and training them on her back. She didn’t move from her position, staring into Jack's eyes relaying a simple message, ‘if you don’t get ahold of yourself then I’ll break your arm.’  
“Everyone calm down. We need to make plans to continue to the Peace Summit, we can’t let this break down negotiations now that we are so close.” Anise snapped and motioned for the Jaffa and Tau’ri to lower their weapons. “Eelien, remove your hand.” She said slowly, as surprised as Martouf and the women’s reaction. There was a lot they didn’t know about her and she wasn’t really the sharing type, in her defense sometimes she herself didn’t know what she could do till the AI in her implant told her. Her yellow eyes flicked to his and a primal anger lived there, the look of an apex predator protecting what belong to it. He didn’t know what to do with that information but he nodded and indicated for her to release the Coronel.  
She released him and stepped back to where Anise was waiting, she didn’t meet Martouf’s eyes again. “Didn’t know you had a body guard, I can see why you keep her around.” Jack murmured and rubbed his wrist.  
“I will explain everything, we need to head back to the Stargate and test the rest of Major Graham’s team, there may be more Za’tarc among them.” Anise’s voice took on a hard demanding note hoping to gain control of the situation once again.  
“Things are off to a great start.” Daniel murmured to Tea’lc as the Tok’ra and their humans stared each other down.  
“I don’t believe it is, Daniel Jackson.” Tea’lc replied as he lowered his weapon, the sarcasm lost on him.

\--

Martouf waited outside the door that led to Eelien’s private room struggling to come up with words that would keep her from being hurt. Her room was the only one with a door and on the opposite end to the sleeping complex, closes to the hanger. Tok’ra had no reason for privacy since they had no secrets, but either because they didn’t trust her or wanted to make her feel at home they had allowed her privacy. He raised his hand to knock and that primal look in her eye jumped to the forefront of his mind, a shiver running down his spine.  
 _You can’t keep stalling, it’s time we speak with her_ Lantash murmured, still tired from healing him after Netu. _She needs to know how we feel._  
Martouf ground his teeth in frustration, he had known for a while since her attitude towards him turned aggressively that she may have feelings for him. He knew now from her reaction that it was true and neither he nor Lantash felt the same, especially since they were both struggling with their feelings over the Major. The whole thing was a mess.  
He banged on the door and walked in when a muffled voice sounded from the other side, thick hot clouds of steam flooded the hall as he opened the door. “Eelien?” He called as he entered the sparsely furnished room and began to sweat from the hot steam.  
“In here.” He pulled back a curtain that lead to a small bathing chamber, another exception was that she had private facilities and didn’t use the communal bath house. Eelien was comply naked, floating in the hot water of her private facility, completely unconcerned by his presence. The water was almost grey as she washed the oil and grease out of her hair and off her skin which glowed in the haze, reflecting the light from the crystal walls.  
 _The Sourin were truly a beautiful people_. Lantash brought up images of Sourin people, male and female with the sun reflecting off golden skin and light colored hair and eyes. He sounded almost wistful as he recalled his time with the people before he and his host had to leave the planet.  
She cocked an eyebrow at him and flicked water in his face with one slender finger. “It’s rude to stare.”  
Martouf smiled and shook his head. “Lantash got caught up in a memory, when the memories are strong I have a tendency of getting swept away with him.” He knelt down and leaned against the crystal tub and turned his back to give her some privacy which she never seemed overly worried about.  
There was a sound of moving water and her face appeared next to his, resting her chin on crossed arms on the side of the tub. Eelien study his face for a moment before flicking more water at him and smiled when he glared. “What was the memory? My people stored their basic histories in the AI but most of the information stored was technology and the events that led up to the death of my world, but nothing or our customs. My father spent all his time teaching me math and trying to build a better signal to get help, so story time wasn’t a thing.”  
It was Lantash that spoke next, Martouf moving back to allow him room and could feel the crushing exhaustion Lantash still dealt with. “When we return from the Tau’ri home world we will sit down and I will tell you everything I and my past host remembers of your people.”  
She narrowed her eyes and poked him in the cheek. “You always say that. It has been more than a year and your always away on some important mission.”  
Lantash grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his face. “I promise, when we return I will tell you everything and answer your many questions.” She wasn’t listening to him, instead she was looking where his hand was wrapped around hers, her face intense and a light flush rushing across her face. He quickly released her and folded his hands back in his lap and Martouf took over once again. “There is something else I would like to speak with you about.” His tone was not lost on her and she looked away from him.  
“And what would that be?” She glanced back at him, her eyes lowered as if she were staring at his mouth.  
“Samantha would like you to come to the Tau’ri home world with the Tok’ra representatives. She has many questions about the AI and implant and would like your help in making a proto-type.”  
She frowned. “I don’t know why you’re so serious Martouf, you know I’ll do anything you ask.”  
His stomach twisted, she seemed to hate everyone she’s ever met but he was one of few she trusted and respected completely. Unfortunately, he needed to break her heart so that she might move on with her life, for the last year he has been aware of her growing affection and that the only thing keeping her from leaving and moving on. He sucked in a breath. “Eelien you are aware that both Lantash and I respect you and your intelligence, despite your attitude.” He smiled again at her and gave a wink which she ignored. “But we have feelings for another and it would be unbecoming of me if we lead you on, intentional or not.”  
“You mean Samantha Carter whom seems to be in love with the silent brooding one called O’Neill.” She responded blandly. “The one you love because she carries Jolinar’s memories.”  
He cleared his throat and looked away when she stood from the tub and walked to a green robe the hung on a chair. “We cared for her because she was the last connection we had to Jolinar, yes. But after Netu, we know that we care for her more than we should.” He stood up and followed her into her chamber where she began to brush her hair. He took the brush from her and pushed her into another seat and began to work through the knots and was happy when she allowed him.  
Eelien watched him in a polished section of the crystal she used as a mirror, her face blank and yellow eyes glinting. “Even if she cares for another?”  
He nodded back at her. “Yes, even then.”  
She chewed on her lip and was quiet for a long time as she worked through what ever thought consumed her. Martouf brushed through her hair for a couple of minutes before setting the brush on a table. With nothing left to say and his heart heavy, he walked to the door to leave.  
“Thank you for your honesty, Martouf.” She whispered when he reached the door, he looked back at her to find her staring at her feet, head bowed. He said nothing else, exiting the room and its heavy atmosphere.  
 _In time she will move on._  
“I have grown fond of her, even if we don’t see her often. I just don’t want her to hate us.”  
An odd feeling ran through Lantash, one Martouf couldn't quite grasp. _She isn’t the type to hold a grudge over something like this. If you were to leave fingerprints on her ship, maybe, but not something like this._  
Martouf walked down the deserted hall to the ring room where Samantha and her group would be waiting for an escort back to the Stargate. “Was that a joke Lantash?”  
 _I would never joke about something as serious as fingerprints,_ he replied blandly before slipping off to what passed as sleep of a symbiote while in a host, quieting his mind to rest.

\---

“I don’t want to go in that thing.” Eelien was disheveled, hair not quite being contained in a loose bun and pointed ears sticking out through the wave of snow. Grumpy, sleepless eyes reflected the light from the rippling wormhole as she glowered at the gate. She wore the clothes of the Tok’ra but Martouf caught flashes of the black jump-suite underneath it.  
Anise folded her arms and stared down the younger women before motioning with a nod of her head towards the gate. “I need help carrying the machine that will detect Za’tarks through the gate and you're assigned to help me. Now go.”  
Martouf walked up to the gate and gave Eelien a pointed look before stepping through with two other representatives of the Tok’ra including Supreme High Counselor Pre’sus. In the blink of an eye they were walking down the on ramp in the Stargate Command facility. A short balding man walked out from behind a sliding metal door to greet them.  
“General Hammond, we are honored to be guests here for the Summit.” Martouf took on his diplomatic voice and shook the Generals hand.  
“It's always a pleasure to have your friends at the Tok’ra on this base.” He relied. “Supreme High Counselor Pre’sus welcome to Earth.” He turned and shook their leaders hand as well since that was the Tar’ri way.  
Footsteps behind the party allerted them that Anise had finally forced Eelien through the gate, carrying the case with the machine in it. The gate shut off with a high pitched hum and the group finished walking down the ramp.  
“Anise, it's good to see you again. Samantha has a Isolation room set up for you and Za'tark reader.” General Hammond stated and motioned for two guards to take the case and show her to the room. “You I am unfamiliar with.” He added when noticing Eelien who was hanging back and looking around the facility.  
“I am unfamiliar with you as well.” Her voice was light and she may have been trying to joke, but her thick accent made it come out rude and flippant. She removed her face covering and shoved the cloth in a pocket. “You are the leader of these people?”  
The General smiled at her overly familiar tone and offered her a hand as he had everyone else. “I am the leader of the people in this base yes.”  
Her eyes flicked to the outstretched hand and looked to Martouf for instruction. “You shake it, it is customary of the Tau’ri and would be rude if you didn't.” Quickly she grabbed the ends of the Generals fingers in her left hand and gave them a good hard shake before releasing him. The General and the representatives sniggered at her brazenness.  
“I am here to speak with Samantha. Where do I find her?” Her voice was loud and she shifted from foot to foot, her back and legs completely stiff.  
“Major Cater will be with Anise for a couple of hours testing the rest of Major Grahams team to see if any of them are one of these...Za’tarcs. You and the representatives can wait in the conference room if you'd like.” He motioned for the party to travel through the same door Anise had gone in a show of hospitality.  
Martouf and the other Tok’ra moved to leave for the conference room, Eelien brought up the rear watching the armed guards with weary eyes. “I would rather assist Anise if it's all the same to you Mr. General.”  
General Hammond turned but continued to walk. “Assist Anise? Would you be of any help with the machine she intends to use.” He probably didn't mean to sound rude but it did sound a bit demeaning.  
“Actually General, Eelien helped her design the machine, the original design came with some….flaws and Eelien and Tekmak helped fix them.” Martouf started coming to her rescue, or more to the Generals judging by the look on the women in question's face.  
The General looked impressed. “Is that so? Well by all means if it will help my people then I'll have you escorted there.” He waved a hand and a young man in greens came forward. “Please escort our friend to the isolation room Captain.” The young man nodded and held an arm out to direct Eelien to follow.  
Once Eelien was out of sight Martouf turned to the General who waited at the bottom of some stairs. “She is a spit-fire that one.” He remarked with a light chuckle before continuing up the steps.  
“Eelien has been a lively distraction this past year.” Supreme High Counselor Pre’sus replied as he reached the top of the stairs. “We are sad to see her race gone, many of the Tok’ras first hosts came from her people, they were an open minded race.”  
The group entered the large room that Martouf had seen many times, all members present sat down and settled in for the results of the tests. Hammond folded his hands on the table and tilted his head. “What exactly happened to her people?”  
“Were not entirely sure but it seems the tectonic plates of her home planet shifted and destroyed most of the world, then volcanic activity ionize the atmosphere along with smoke and ash, eventually everything died.” Martouf sat back and crossed his ankles. “We don't know how but at the right time the signal they have been sending finally came through and we received it, she was the only one left.”  
“And the only technology she has is that chip in her brain?” He asked trying to be polite while seeing if there was any more technology they could squeeze out of her.  
“Well,” Pre’sus cut in. “She has a ship that is adaptive in nature and a status pod that exceeds anything we have at the moment. But that implant is their crowning achievement, both mechanical and organic, it processes stored information at exceptional speeds.” He sounded like a proud father bragging about his favorite child.  
Before Hammond could respond, a dark haired woman entered the room and saluted him. “Sir.” She said stiffly.  
“Go ahead.”  
“There's been a situation sir. The first person from Major Graham's team was found to be a Za’tarc and killed herself.” Her voice was level and didn't betray any emotion.  
The General jumped to his feet. “Why wasn't I notified!” He barked.  
“Sir it happened so fast that no one had time to react. SG1 immediately went next for fear of there being more.” When the General didn't say anything, the women continued. “Both Major Carter and Colonel O’Neill are found to be Za’tarcs sir. They have been moved to holding cells and request to see you.”  
Martouf’s heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. “...No.” He whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

Pacing was the only thing that helped at the moment, walking up and down the bland gray halls with the painted lines on the floor counting each step. A woman guarding a door to the lab would reach down with every pass and finger the Zat gun on her thigh. Eelien smiled when she saw the motion knowing with her radiated skin an electric charge from a weapon like that would have no effect. Now a staff blast may hurt due to the sheer force but the Zat gun wouldn't hurt as much.

Martouf had gone into the room where Major Carter was housed after the discovery that she was a Za'tarc and Eelien wished she hadn't seen him go in or seen the worried lines of his face. He had been honest with his feelings and she eventually would appreciate that, but it felt like salt in a wound when he went running off to find Samantha at the first sign of danger.

The weirdest thing though was watching Anise go in the room O'Neill was in, did every Tok'ra want their own little human pet? Was she missing the appeal? Sure, Dr. Jaskson was the most physically appealing but he twitched like a nervous animal and that was not attractive. Apparently she found men who were emotionally unavailable and in love with women who were in love with someone else attractive.

She turned and kicked the wall and instead of appeasing her anger all it did was bruise some toes and make her yell. Hopping on one foot she moved to a chair in the hall and sat down to sulk. "Stupid." She whispered to herself and she messaged her foot through the soft cloth boots. Tekmak decided to chime in and agreed with her statement.

"Are you ok?" Eelien looked up and found the worried face of Freya staring down at her instead of Anise who was in control most of the time.

"I'm fine, just working through some anger." She murmured back and nodded her head towards O'Neills room. "What was that about?"

Freya smiled at the change in topic and folded her arms across her well endowed chest. "The Colonel has agreed to let me attempt fixing what Goa'uld did to him. I wanted a chance to say something that has been weighing on my mind first." An attractive blush slipped across her cheeks and she avoided Eelien's arched brow. Dear lord, all these Tok'ra were hungry for human meat.

"So what now?" She stood and tested the foot to make sure nothing was broken.

Anise emerged and the deep voice of the symbiote came from her lips. "Major Carter will be restrained and drugged to make sure she can't hurt herself. Unfortunately we cannot wait till after the Summit to ensure the Tar'ui Presidents safety, if we are going to ensure that this works we will have to get the Colonel in the chair now."

The door opened to Samantha's room and Martouf exited, a hard look in his eyes that grew harder when he found Anise and her in the hall. "I have to go to the Summit, but I'm telling you Anise, your machine is too dangerous and has failed too many times now." So, before in the gate room when he defended the machine that she and Anise had built but now that Samantha's life may be in danger he thought it to be dangerous. Eelien glared openly at him and didn't care whether or not how if made him feel.  
"Don't worry." She hissed earning her a harsh look from him. "We plan on testing it out on the Colonel first." She turned and walked down the hall to the medical center to get away from him and his stupid face. Tekmak brought up an image of Eelien from when she was little, she was calling her a child and all that did was irritate her more.

"I see you and Martouf had a not so pleasant conversation recently." Anise started quickly catching up with the much shorter women. "Normally you're awkwardly mean to him but that was almost malicious."  
"We are not talking about it, we are fixing the Tau'ri and then I'm leaving the Tok'ra."

"You got your ship working already?" They walked through the medical bay and headed towards the isolation room where their equipment was set up, they needed to calibrate the machine before they could attempt fixing the Colonel.

"No but while I was explaining to Samantha that my implant was made up of both organic and mechanical parts she remarked about the adaptiveness of it and my ship. She figured out how to adapt the hyper-drive after only seeing my ship once. She truly is as brilliant as they say." The words were a little more bitter then she would have liked.

Anise pulled on the leather straps on the restraint chair checking their durability, the women they had in the chair first had broken out and killed herself, they needed to ensure O'Neill didn't try the same thing. "And you're just going to leave?"

Eelien began the powering up sequence on the machine and running through the calibrations. "The Tok'ra have suffered my presence long enough, it's time for me to move on." She left out the part where no matter what it just didn't feel like home.

"So you're just throwing yourself a pity party?" Anise's conclusion was like a slap in the face and Eelien mashed her teeth together to keep from the harsh words that tried to escape.

"This is ready when you or the Colonel are." She said instead and flicked a couple of switches to set the machine on standby, Tekmak brought up the schematics of the machine to remind her to check the auxiliary output. Yeah yeah hold on, the AI was so bossy.

"Are you going to stay?" Ansie asked and stepped up to the machine to double check everything Eelien did.

Eelien looked up to the reflective mirror high up on the wall that was used as an observation deck of some kind. "I'll be up there if you need me."  
\---

Colonel Jack O'Neill looked uncomfortably slathered in the chair waiting for Anise to begin. Eelien noticed sweat dripping down his neck and his skin was noticeably pale. According to one of the guards outside the, Colonel only volunteered in hopes of saving Samantha since the last time they tried the procedure the woman went ballistic and killed herself.

"Are you ready Colonel?" It was strange for Anise to actually sound concerned and caring.

He gave a harsh chuckle and shook his head. "Just do me a favor, if you turn my brain to mush, just make sure I don't live, m'kay?"

"I'll put you down myself if need be Jack." She began to take the machine off stand by and the lights in the rooms dimmed visibly from the power draw. A humming sound filled the room and the glass of the two-way mirror began to vibrate under Eelien's palms.

"Jack stop!" The door of the isolation room flew open and a very drugged Samantha stood sagging in the hallway with Daniel Jackson and the Medical Physician, whose name eluded Eelien, who struggled to hold her up.

"Sam! Get your ass back in bed, what are you doing here?" O'Neill yelled, struggling in the chair to help her.

"No, Anise you have to test us again. We lied, that's why the test failed us, we unknowingly lied about what happened on the ship."

"What are you talking about Sam?" O'Neill barked.

Samantha wobbled over to a chair, breathing heavily while beads of sweat ran down her face. "Sir we didn't tell the whole truth. There's something neither one of use has been willing to admit." They locked eyes and almost spoke to one another through the sheer intensity of their gaze. Shumik...was she talking about their obvious feelings for one another right now? Thankfully Martouf wasn't here, no matter how angry she was with him she didn't want to see the pained look in his trusting eyes. Eelien chewed on her lip with irritation at the conflicting emotions that battled within and her underdeveloped understanding of other people's emotions.

After a quick conversation between the Physician and Anise, Anise waved Eelien to come back to the isolation room to set the controls back to the testing settings. Eelien ran down and ignored the guards as she ran to the machine and Tekmak began pulling up instructions for resetting the controls. As she worked Anise assisted Colonel O'Neill out of the chair and strapped in Samantha who still shook from the drugs she had been given to keep her compliant during the Peace Summit.

When the settings were completed, Eelien took a step back so Anise could begin the test. "Major Carter are you ready?" She asked, almost sounding concerned.

When Samantha nodded Anise began running through the series of events as she had before, stopping Samantha every once in a while for certain details or to have her explain things several times. When she reached the end of her tale added the missing piece she and Colonel O'Neill had excluded. She described being stuck behind a force field and being unable to escape the ship, Colonel O'Neill had refused to leave her behind and decided to stay with her, in that moment strong feelings had passed between the two. When it was O'Neills turn to take the chair he too reguiled the three onlookers with a similar tail of emotions that were 'inappropriate' for a commanding officer and his charges.

Anise clicked her tongue as she watched the pupil dilation in the machine before switching it off. "They both passed." She sighed and sat in an empty chair Samantha had been using during O'Neills interrogation but now she was helping get him unstrapped. "We were so close to putting them through the treatment and could have done so much damage for nothing." She closed her eyes and when she opened them again it was Freya sitting in the chair, she looked defeated and drained.

"It doesn't make sense." Samantha stated, running a frustrated hand through her short hair. "Why would they go through all the trouble of planting Za'tarcs in the SGC if they would only plant two?"

"Maybe they thought that would be enough." Daniel Jakcson replied by sticking his hands in the pockets of his pants.

Samantha spun around. "Anise- I mean Freya, did the Tok'ra go through this test? Did you?"

Freya shook her head. "I do not go off base for missions so I would not be compromised and neither do the members of the council."

Samantha looked at Eelien then with a look of pure horror. "Did Martouf get tested after Netu?"

Freya shook her head. "No the machine is new, we hadn't built it yet."

Everyone in the room had the same though and exploded with activity all at once. Smantha grabbed a Zat from one of the guards that stood outside while O'Neill confiscated the other guards side arm and began running.

"Wait, Sam we need to talk-" O'Neill started and was cut off when Samantha shook her head.

"It doesn't need to leave this room, Sir." She said the last word pointedly to remind him why they shouldn't even speak of it again. The group ran off towards the gate room where the Tok'ra and Tar'ui groups would meet.

Eelien was rooted to the spot, her heart pounding in her rib cage and the blood drained from her head. If Martouf was a Za'tarc and waiting for the arrival of the human leader then the moment he moved he would be dead. Tekmak began pulling up scenarios in response to Eelien's panic but Eelien didn't pay attention, instead she began running as fast as she could out of the Isolation room door and down the gray ugly halls for the gate room. Tekmak continued running the scenarios informing Eelien if she could use her superior speed and knock him on couscous she could potentially save him, she also informed her if the Tau'ri got to him first he would die.

Pumping her legs harder she flew around the corner and almost took out several men in military uniforms. One of the men yelled trying to grab her and she dropped and spun from his grasp shooting straight for the opened door of the star gate room where several important looking men were entering behind the General.

Then screams erupted from the room followed by three gunshots and Eelien's blood ran ice cold. Shoving her way into the gate room her eyes focused on Martouf and the world slowed down around her. He was standing on the landing to the start gate, arm outstretched with a phaser ring in his palm and three holes in his chest bleeding heavily while Colonel O'Neill stood behind him with a gun pointed at him still smoking. Samantha stood in front of him, her Zat gun raised and recharged for what could only be a second shot, a second shot would result in his death.

"Samantha, please." He begged, he begged her to kill him. His face was twisted in pain and completely white from the blood loss and when he looked into the dark blues eyes of the blond women's he told her it was ok if he died because that was better than him killing someone else, whether or not if he was in control. When Samantha absorbed the look in his eyes she fired a second shot from her Zat weapon.

Eelien didn't stop and unlike Samantha she didn't care what Martouf wanted so she ran and jumped in front of the second zat blast. The powerful electrical charge slammed through Eeliens back as she in turn slammed into Martouf and smashed her head on him as hard as she possibly could to ensure he would pass out. Wow, so a Zat gun did hurt almost like someone had thrown a rock at her but the electricity itself was absorbed and dissipated along her skin. Smacking her head into his may have been crude but she didn't have time to think or anything else. She saw stars when their heads connected and swore she felt her brain bounce around in her skull, head butting hurt more then the Zat blast. Blinking away the flashing stars and spinning room, Eelien reached over and pulled the phaser ring from his grasp and threw it across the room.

Chaos was erupting around her, alarms blaring and military personal running while shouting orders at the top of their lungs. She ignored them and began pulling open Martoufs robes to expose his bare chest, three seeping wounds stared back at her. She ripped off her own robes down to her thermal suite and tore them in stripes to bind the wounds or hopefully stop the bleeding. Tekmak advised her that it wouldn't matter if she packed the wounds since he was no longer breathing. Switching tactics she put her hand on his chest, one on top of the other and thrust down hard till his sternum cracked under the weight, pushing up and down she began counting under her breath.

"He's dead Eelien, you need to stop." Samantha's voice cut through all the noise of the gate room and numbed Eelien's working hands.

Turning and leveling Samantha with a hard malicious gaze she hissed. "Not yet he's not, no thanks to you. You can get away or help, that's it." Samantha was visibly shocked by whatever she saw in Eelien's face and stepped back. Anise and the physician came through the Gate room door and after only a short pause to take in the mess she headed straight for them. Quickly Eelien grabbed the physician's wrist in an iron grip. "Save him, please."  
\---

"There's nothing more I can do." Dr. Janet Frasier, that was her name apparently, stated as she monitored several screens and leads connected to Martouf who was so pale where he lay that he might as well be dead. "He lost a lot of blood and went into shock before he hit the ground. I don't think Lantash will be able to heal that kind of damage quickly enough to keep them alive."

"We can put him in stasis but then he wouldn't heal he just wouldn't die." Anise supplied thoughtfully running a hand through her hair.

Eelien released her bottom lip from her teeth and shook head. "No, the Tok'ra don't care about Martouf, you only care about Lantash."

"That's not true. We and our hosts are one, we care about them as we do each other." Anise snapped, her voice betraying her exhaustion.

Eelien's responding laugh was dry and bitter. "You keep telling yourself that but you will not be responsible for his recovery. My stasis pod will do better. I can set the control higher than normal and might allow Lantash time to slowly repair himself and Martouf."

Anise scoffed and drew herself up to an imposing height compared to the much shorter women. "You are not a Tok'ar! You do not make choices for one of our kind or their hosts!"

With speed and strength she rarely displayed, Eelien grabbed Anise by the throat and squeezed as hard as she dared without snapping her neck, she forced her down to Eeliens level and looked her in the eye. "You will do as I say because you claim to care about both symbiote and host. My way is the better idea, your way will result in the death of one or possibly both." Her yellow eyes bore into Anise's green-blue and impressed her about what she was willing to do to get her way.

"Fine, we will take him back to the Tok'ra base and you can place him in your stasis pod." Eelien released her and the taller women stumbled back. Samantha Carter and O'Neill had walked in the room and paused during the altercation, uneasy at the tension in the room.

"Again no, the Tok'ra have to pick up and move often when their bases are discovered. Constantly moving him will endanger his life."

"What will you do then?" Samantha cut in, keeping out of Eelien's reach.

"My pod will brought here and the Tauri will store it here. That's the least you can do." It wasn't Samantha's fault, she was aware of that but she wanted someone to blame and Samantha was an easy target.

"That's not really our choice." O'Neill stated. "Besides we can't have a brain washed sleeping beauty on the base, it's a liability."

"Then Anise in all her knowledge will be ready to fix him when he has healed." She crossed her arms and turned back to Dr. Frasier. "Can you keep him alive long enough for the pod to be brought in?"

"Whatever you're going to do, do it fast. I don't think a symbiote can fix brain damage." She replied looking over the flashing screens.

"Does anyone else want to argue with me or do I need to start hurting people because I will, and I will be the only one left standing." She looked all the people in the room in the eye.

O'Neill sucked in a breath to say something harsh, not liking the fact she was threatening them but was cut off by Samantha. "You love him don't you?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in her answer. "And he will never know. I will set everything that needs to be set on the pod, Anise can study the low level brain activity and fix what she needs to while in stasis and you will keep him safe while Lantash heals them both."

"I will talk to the General and do what I can." Samantha looked guilty while she spoke. "But what will you do?"

"I know what Martouf told you in that room, when he wakes it won't be me he and Lantash will want to see." Eelien closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. "My ship is mostly done, there is no place left for me in his world."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So its come to my attention that the format is getting messed up when chapters are posted. When Martouf and Lantash speak who ever isn't in control of the body is supposed to be slanted but for some reason AO3 isn't doing it. When I figure out how to fix it then I will, until then it will be just...confusing.  
> Edit- Figured it, no one panic.

Chapter 5

A battalion of Jaffa stood at attention in the landing bay, blasting staffs at the ready as they waited for the approach of their master in an Al'kesh cruiser. The mother ship and its occupants waited, each Jaffa had a veil that covered their lower face and the imprint of their master on their forehead; a set of curling ram horns. Amun, the hidden god, a god almost as feared as Ra himself who hardly ever left his base planet of operation was about to board the mother-ship. His First Prime usually ran the Gods personal armada since the hidden god rarely left the planet, but since the death of his First Prime during a battle with Ba'al the god had returned to replace him. The rare visits from the divine were a cause of celebration among the leadership of Jaffa who truly believed to their core that Amun was a true god, a god they would die for and in a show of reverence they covered their face as did their master.

The Al'kesh breached the barrier of the ship and flew into the bay with great dexterity as the sub-light engines squealed. Once the ship was settled, Jaffa snapped to attention and the room filled the sound and closed fists smacking metal plated chests. The door of the ship slid open and a dark skinned man with a round scar on his head excited the ship and waited outside the door for a second figure to emerge. A man in a golden ram head piece with two spiraling horns jutting from the side walked down the ramp of the ship and placed both hands behind his back and surveyed the honor guard. The divine being was swathed in white silks and god robes with shining rings and long gold chains that clinked with each step. A Jaffa ran to his master and knelt to bow deeply, both palms raised over his head in a sign of respect.

"My Lord, I Le'um, am at your service." As the next highest ranking member of Amun's personal guard it was his hope that he would be elevated to First Prime.

"You may stand." The gods voice permeated from the golden mask deep and commanding. "I have come to replace my first Prime. This is Rak'nor, once Jaffa of Apophis but now knows who his one true god is. In a sign of loyalty he removed his own brand." Rak'nor bowed low first to his god then nodded his head at the still kneeling Jaffa, the Jaffa he now outranked. "I will leave once all here is settled."

Amun began to walk away with his new Prime in tow when he caught sight of a silver smooth ship in the hanger. "Whose ship is that?"

Le'um stood up and ran to the god. "We caught a strange humanoid a month ago that seemed to be drifting for some time. Her life support was almost out and she had a Tok'ra signal so we captured her, strangely she has no Tok'ra symbiote."

"Where is the Tok'ra scum?" The god asked.

"She is in the holding cell, we found if we keep the room cold it dampens her...spirit. We have also learned that she can not go in a sarcophagus, she seizes whenever we try." Le'um responded.

"Has she given you any information?" Amun asked.

"No master, she will not reveal her secrets."

The god clutched his robes in anger, the metal around his fingers tearing into the fabric. "Bring the spy to my quarters, Gods can get information in ways you couldn't imagine." Le'um shivered at the darkness and cold dripping from his master's voice.

"Yes my lord." Le'um waited for the God and his new Prime to leave the hanger before glaring, he had spent his life working towards his goal of being Prime and now when it was his chance some unknown Jaffa that once served another had taken it from him.

He motioned to several mask men standing guard. "Go get the golden women, we bring her to our master."

Outside the door that led into the master's private room he stopped and waited for entry, the guards behind him struggled to hold the dead-weight of the unconscious women. He wanted to yell and scream or even attack the new Prime but to do so would only incur the wrath of the god. He would wait, when the god returned to his planet then Le'um would find a way to rid himself of the new prime just as he had the old. The doors of the waiting room opened with a groan and the god waited beyond, sitting patiently in a throne of gold and black inlay, the new Prime standing at his side.

Le'um entered the room followed by the guards and their prisoner. The guards walked quickly past him and threw the women at the foot of the throne, she didn't move. Her once golden skin was a light tan color now, so bland compared to what it once was and her white hair was knotted and still had spots of dried blood. He smiled thinking about the last few times he'd worked her over, hoping to discover her secrets and those of the Tok'ra. She never talked, sometimes she'd laugh and mumble to herself but she never spoke and Le'um felt some kind of understanding for that kind of honor.

The gods mask looked down at the still heap of women on the floor and flicked his wrist. "Leave us." The guards bowed to retreat through the open door, when Le'um didn't move the god added. "All of you." He flinched and looked to the new Prime at his master's side, Rak'nor smiled down at him with a gleeful glean in his eyes. Le'um walked from the room, yes he would kill that man and take his position as first Prime if it was the last thing he'd do.

  
\---

Quickly pulling the ram mask from his head and throwing it to the side Lantash jumped up from the throne. "Rak'nor secure the room and get hot water." Though confused he threw his staff and began locking the doors inside the private quarters so no one could stumble in and see the false god's face before disappearing and the groan of plumbing sounded from a private bathing camber. Lantash ran to Eelien and flipped her on her back checking her neck for a pulse. Her skin was ice cold and no longer shined in the light and dark bags hung under her eyes.

Rak'nor dropped behind him with a bowl of steaming hot water and some towels. "What's going on? You were supposed to get me in the ranks and leave, who is this?" He dipped the towels in the water and handed them to the Tok'ra.

"She was a friend of mine, saved my life once but disappeared a couple of years ago. We never thought to find her in a place like this." Lantash's deep hypnotic voice replied as he ripped open what was left of her thermal jumpsuit to the bruised flesh underneath. Her poor body was riddled with deep half healed lacerations and possibly broken ribs on top of deep bruises . Normally she would heal fast but if they put her in a cold room with no thermal radiation or heat source for her to absorb then her body would weaken. How was he going to heat her up enough for her body to heal?

 _Our Eelien liked hot baths._ Martoufs voice sounded strained and irregular, but Lantash didn't have time to analyze his host's mood. He picked her up and walked into the adjoining bath house with a sunk-in gold tiled bath that was the size of a small pond. The water was still running from the faucet from where Rak'nor had got water. The bath was almost half full with steaming water from pressurized high flow pipes, not pausing he ran into the water and hissed when the hot water met his flesh, he walked till the water was to his hips and slowly lowered Eelien in the hot water. Her eyes flew open and the dull yellow flashed as she screamed from the contact of hot water to icy skin. She struggled in Lantash's arm and he locked down his grip, forcing her to stay in the hot water hoping she didn't go into shock. It only lasted a few moments before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell unconscious once more.

His heart pounded against his rib cage, each passing moment feeling like an eternity as she lay limp in his arms. Finally the color of her skin began to change from the dull tan to a more gold color and her breathing stabilized, deep breaths expanding her chest and he remembered he'd open her suite and exposed her. With her in his arms he slowly walked towards the spigot and turned the burning hot water off before it flooded the ship.

Lantash used the sleeve of his robe and whipped dried blood from her hair and skin, careful of the deep bruises and what looked suspiciously like whip marks on her arms. Despite the scalding water his blood was flooded with ice as he cleaned her body as much as possible.

"Get a robe." He hollered over his shoulder and Rak'nor instantly shuffled off to find a bathing robe. When he returned he brought two and a few large drying blankets. Lantash waded back to the lip of the bath and set Eelien down before pulling himself out. Rak'nor glanced at Eelien's exposed chest and looked away, a flush crossing across his dark skin.

"I'll wait outside." He murmured and all but ran back to the receiving room.

Ripping off his soaked clothes he pulled on the first rob and knelt down, her breathing was stronger but her skin was still duller than it should be. He finished ripping off the rest of her suite whispering apologies despite her not being conscious and wrapped several towels and the second robe around her. Not knowing what else to do he carried her into the bed room and deposited her on the large round bed covered in soft silk black blankets and dozens of pillows.

"Does this change plans?" The rebel Jaffa asked from outside the door, refusing to enter.

"Maybe, I want you to get settled into the Primes quarters across the hall and start your rounds. Ask as much as you can about what happened with her. I'll hang out till I can get her off this ship without raising suspicion." Lansha couldn't stop staring at the unconscious woman flung across the bed, noting her sunken cheeks and the bruises on her wrist and throat, the sight tore at his insides.

"What is going on, who is she?"

Lantash took a deep breath to steady his anger. "Her people lived on a planet with large levels of thermal radiation, their skin adapted to this by absorbing all matter of the radiation. By being put in a place with no sunlight and extreme cold her body began to fail, I jump started the process by submerging her in hot water."

The Jaffa was thoughtful. "I have never seen someone of her race before but how would they dispel all the radiation they absorbed?"

A memory surfaced and he smiled. "They glow." He murmured and shook his head. "They could use the energy to heal themselves and redirect it for superior strength and speed. I would be surprised if you had met one of her kind, since she is the last." Lantash motioned for him to leave. "Go get settled in and obtain as much information as you can then we will reassess our mission."

Rak'nor didn't like being told what to do by a Tok'ra and Lantash could see it on his face but they both had a mission to complete and they didn't know how long they could keep up the ruse. Once he was gone and the doors snapped shut again Lantash sighed, her presence was going to cause problems to their missions and Lantash wasn't supposed to stay but he couldn't leave her here. He was supposed to set Rak'nor as the Prime so he could infiltrate the System Lords and then the "god" was going to disappear back to his base planet and Lantash and Martouf could go on their next mission.

 _I'm going to kill every single one of them._ Martouf's snarling voice bounced around and Lantash was shocked by the amount of venom and hatred that rolled off the usually soft spoken man.

"We cannot expose ourselves." Lantash hissed back but he too felt the acid taste of anger rising in his gut.

_We owe her, we owe her more then we could possibly make up for. I will burn this ship down if that's what it takes._

Usually Martouf was the voice of reason, it was rare that Lantash would have to be the one to hold him back. The feeling they had felt when stepping off the transport ship and recognizing Eelien's one of a kind ship had caused a tsunami of emotions. If it hadn't been for the mask there would have been no way for them to hide the reaction.

A soft moan escaped from Eelien's parted lips, snowy eyebrows drew together in a pained expression before her face smoothed out again and stopped moving. Her skin was already losing the little color the water had provided, he would need a continuous heat source to keep her from dying but there was no way he could obtain one without raising suspicion.

 _Body heat._ Martouf supplied his anger dampening the issues at hand.

Moving around the room Lantash pulled the wet rob off and slid on loose fitted cotton pants from a drawer of clothes kept for when the "god" visited from his planet. He pulled a large shirt from another drawer and walked to the bed and paused, he didn't like stripping an unconscious woman for any reason at all.

_Don't think about it, get her dry and then get her warm. She has never been concerned about us seeing her body before._

"If it's that easy then you do it." He hissed back and without thinking about it anymore he pulled the wet robes and towels off and struggling to hold the limp body up slipped the shirt over her head. It was basically see through and barely fell to her hips but it would have to do. Lantash pulled her to the top of the bed and settled her corpse like body on a pile of pillows, as soon as she was settled he crawled in with her and pulled as many blankets as he could stand around them. Gently he wrapped his arms around her narrow shoulders and propped her head on his shoulder, he pulled her as close as possible and rested his chin on the top of her head.

_Settle in Lantash, it's going to be a long night._


	6. Chapter 6

Every muscle was heavy and the slightest movement sent waves of pain through every extremity and digit. Eelien yawned, or tried to yawn when her jaw cracked and she became aware of her face pressed into a warm hard surface obstructing her airway. She tried to move her arms and found she was restrained, panic shot through her body and her mind flipped into fight or flight mode. The hard surface she was trapped against expanded, tightening the restraints that bound her and when she was about to hit a freak out stage a sound like a soft snore sounded over her head and air passed along the top of her hair.

Eelien opened her eyes and struggled to lift her head till she found a neck that led to a strong jawline with stubble and with more maneuvering finally she found the peacefully sleeping face of Martouf.

No not Martouf, it was Lantash that was in control, she could tell from the tightness along his jaw and clenched teeth. Martouf was more of a drooling loud snoring type, and usually when he went to sleep he was almost impossible to wake up.

His arms tightened and she paused as he shifted around, his leg sliding between hers and a hand falling to a low part of her backside. Biting her lip she resisted the urge to slap him for his wandering hands and tried her best to relax, every movement she made was like needles and knives running along her nerves and major movement brought pain filled tears to her eyes. She clenched down on her teeth to hold back the flood threatening to consume her and she buried her face back into Lantash's chest with its light coverage of hair, she could hide her face but she could strop the shaking of her body.

Why were they here? How had they found her? Weeks had passed and she had finally given into the idea that she was going to die, even Tekmak ran the likelihood of them surviving and it had been slim to none. What were the chances of finding herself in the arms of the men she loved, thousands of light-years away and on the verge of death? Tekmak gave a groggy answer and powered down as she converted the heat Eelien pulled from Lantash's body to energy. She couldn't stop them anymore, when the number Tekmak gave her was nonexistent the tears spilled down her face and no amount of teeth grinding could stop them.

Lantash hand slipped up her back and rested at the base of her neck, a soft shushing sound and a rumbling in his chest alerted her to the fact he was awake. He stroked her neck with one hand and her lower back with his other, gently soothing her until the moment passed. "I'm glad you're awake, you gave us a fright." His morning voice was even more deep and alien then usual and a pleasant vibration ran through his chest as the leg between hers stretched.

"Where did you come from, where are we and where are my clothes." She demanded but didn't feel the need to untangle herself from him, this might be the only time he would hold her in such a way and she absolutely loved it.

"Shhh, once you're healed then I promise I will answer your many questions." He stated as he continued to run a lazy hand along her spine and goose flesh ran all along her skin.

"You always say that." She smiled as she remembered a similar conversation from three years ago.

She maneuvered her head up and found Lantash looking down at her, his face completely unreadable and betraying nothing. Eelien hated when Lantash was in control because it was easier to read Martouf. He arched an eyebrow when her staring bordered on rude. "I see Anise fixed you and Major Carter kept her word by keeping you safe." The words came out colder than she meant, the memories still haunting her even now.

"Yes, and from what I heard it was all thanks to you and your ability to threaten every single person no matter how out number you are." His tone was almost joking but his eyes were hard.

"I couldn't let you or Martouf die, they were only worried about saving you and not him." Her voice cracked and she attempted to clear her throat. "I'm sure Samantha was happy when you woke." Petty, she was being petty.

His wandering hand found its way up her neck and cupped her check, his thumb ran across her bottom lip and his eyes dipped down to the tracks his thumb left. Her heart slammed against her chest as her lungs more or less seized, clenching her legs she was reminded about his between hers. She fully realized how close their bodies were and the heat of his chest and skin was tantalizing and delicious. Panic spiked again and she instantly tried to pull away while closing her eyes, she couldn't get attached, she couldn't allow herself to feel for him as she had before or else she would truly fall apart this time.

Lanstash tightened his grip and locked his fingers around her jaw holding her in place forcing her to look at him. "Im sorry, we are sorry." He whispered as much as a symbiote voice could and leaned down, his breath dancing across her face. "We knew you had feelings but we assumed they were just a little crush we never-." His hand around her jaw loosened and he again began traveling her bottom lip. "You had no reason to save us."

Eelien swallowed around a lump in her throat, becoming more aware of his thigh between hers and a warmth spreading from a lower point in her belly, he flexed his leg and she gasped. Stammering she tried to speak. "Love means no matter what, I will still save you."

Lantash took a shuddering breath and his eyes glowed for a moment before his mouth was crushing down on hers, his tongue sliding between her lips and the taste of his mouth filled hers. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know what he was doing and when his tongue slid along hers it took every instinct not to bite down. He sensed her fear and uncertainty and pulled his lips from hers. "You have never been kissed before." It wasn't a question but embarrassment flooded her face. Duh, kissing. She had heard people use the word but had never had another person actually do it to her or explain what it was. He looked uncomfortable as she stared at him, assessing how to proceed. He moved to pull his body away from hers, fear spiked in her stomach, she didn't want him to stop touching her. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down to her and pushed her lips against his once more.

He rolled his hips, pushing her onto her back, his weight crushing down on her and his knee pressed against the soft tender flesh between her legs. She tried desperately to keep up with the onslaught of his mouth and even tried to push him away, instead he grabbed a hold of her wrists and threw them over her head into the pillows. He pulled his mouth from hers and she gasped for breath as his mouth grazed her neck and as his lips and teeth moved down her throat when a moan escaped from her.

"When we saw you laying on the ground, lifeless, we thought you were gone forever." Martouf spoke for the first time, his lips moving against the soft skin of her throat. "Since we woke eight months ago and Sam told us what happened." He stopped pulling back to look at her face, his eyes soft. "When she told us how you felt. We couldn't believed how stupid we had been." He ran his mouth across hers in the softest caress, and he nipped at her bottom lip.

"But what about Samantha. Your feelings for her couldn't have just been..." She struggled for the word, distracted by the feel of his teeth in her flesh and tried to fight against more embarrassing sounds from bubbling up.

"Shhh." He whispered against her skin. "It doesn't matter anymore, she and O'Neill are together now."

Eelien froze under him and turned her face from his mouth. His eyes flashed and Lantash was back in control, his face twisting in guilt. "He didn't mean it that way Eelien."

"Get off me." She hissed slowly and pushed every ounce of hatred she had felt over the years into her eyes. "Get off now." Lantash sat up, releasing his hold on her wrist and she instantly wiggled out from under him and walked to the door while pulling down the shirt to cover her hips. "I should have known, there was no way you could forget about her."

"Eelien, it was a poor choice of words. Martouf isn't known for being the most well spoken when nervous." Lantash spoke slowly as if he were talking to a scared animal that might bolt at any moment.

She laughed, a harsh angry sound that made him flinch and look away. "Just get me to my ship so I can get away, I'm done with the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra."

He didn't speak for a long painful minute. "It's a little more complicated than that. I'm not supposed to still be here and there's no way I can get you off this ship without blowing my cover."

For the first time Eelien really took in her surroundings, noticing the lush decor and gold inlay of the walls and furniture, she turned and noticed the massive gold headpiece with large curled horns sitting on a golden throne. "Your Amun or well pretending to be him."

"He was a god known for his mystery and never showed his face to anyone. When the sarcophagus stopped working for him and his host died it was the perfect opportunity for the Tok'ra to take over. Many operatives have used Amun as a disguise to gain information from the System Lords." Lantash stood and adjusted his rob and ran a shaky hand through his dirty blond hair.

"And how does that keep me from leaving Mr. All Powerful God?" She stepped back further from him as he walked to the reception room and stared down at the gold headpiece.

He looked at her and a strange unreadable expression ran across his handsome face. "They want the information you have on the Tok'ra and I'm supposed to be extracting it from you. I can't pretend like I put a host in you and let you go, the Jaffa of this ship are aware you're not compatible with a symbiote due to your implant." He picked up the head piece and threw it to the ground before sitting on the throne with all the confidence of someone who belonged on one. "I also cannot force you to Amun's home planet since no one is allowed on it by his decree, he always lived in isolation after he was betrayed by Ra."

She wanted to be angry with him for putting his mission and alias above her but she had seen the Tok'ra numbers dwindle over the years and understood the need to protect his people and destroy their enemy. "I don't even know where the Tok'ra are now, they change bases so often. I have a communicator but I have never used it. There's no information they can get from me."

"Then they will expect you to be executed." He replied quietly, locking his eyes on her, wanting her to understand the gravity of the situation.

"So what now?"

Before he could answer someone banged on the door of the reception chamber and a familiar voice shouted from the other side. Le'um was someone Eelien had come to know quite well as he was the primary source of her abuse while on the ship. She felt all the blood drain from her face and her legs buckled under her. "My Lord, your First Prime requests to speak with you."

Lantash jumped to his feet and began pulling on the layered robes and cloaks of the god and picked up the heavy headpiece from where he threw it. Before he sat on the throne he noticed Eelien where she sat on the ground shaking and staring at the door. "Eelien, go into the bedroom and don't show yourself." He spoke gently from the dais, when she didn't move Lantash ran to her and touched her shoulder.

Eelien flinched from the touch and looked up at the ram head piece in horror as fight or flight responses took over her muscles. He leaned down and opened the mask so she could see his eyes. "I might not know how to get you off this ship right now, but know this; no one here will ever be able to touch you again. I will get you out of here some way, I promise."

For a second she didn't move as she looked into the blue caring eyes framed by gold. Finally she nodded and crawled to the bedroom and hid behind the door pulling her knees to her chest. She didn't care that she should be embarrassed from her reaction or the fact that her legs aren't working. She just reminded herself that Martouf and Lantash had saved her from a dying planet and kept their promise to wake her up when they reached the Tok'ra home world. They may be flawed and careless at times but here they were promising to save her again and she just needed to trust that they would at least do that.

"You may enter." Eelien peeked through the crack in the door and was shocked by the cold commanding voice that flowed from the masked figure sitting on the throne.

The door swung open to reveal Le'um bowing in the hall with an unfamiliar dark skinned man next to him and several guards surrounding the door. He had a large scar across his forehead with no brands of the god he rose in unison and entered the room after a respectful amount of time passed to show their respect from their god.

"What do you want?" Lantash's voice was devoid of emotion.

"As I said my lord your First Prime is here to see you." Le'um stammered, his eyes flickering around the room no doubt looking for her mangled tortured body.

"I can see that, why are you here?" Le'um flinched as if his words were a whip, so cold and emotionless.

"I have also come to collect the women to take her back to the holding cell." He replied quickly and bowed his head once more.

Lantash stood from the throne and motioned for the dark skinned Jaffa to approach him, apparently this man was the new Prime. The man walked to his god and stepped up onto the dais and looked into the eyes of the headpiece. Eelien strained to see if they were talking to one another but from her vantage point she couldn't make anything out.

The Prime turned and took a deep breath and spoke to the bowing man. "The Master will not be returning the girl to the cells. He has seen her for the rare specimen she is and will keep her as his new pet."

Eelien and Le'ums mouths fell open in unison at the statement as Lantashs fingers dug into the arm of the chair as if he too was shocked by the announcement but couldn't react to it. It wasn't uncommon for Goa'uld to take on slaves and keep them close in case they were in need of a new host if the one they used became damaged. But Eelien couldn't be used as a host because of Telmak so that meant he wanted to keep her to...play with as some Goa'uld did when they were bored. Baal was famous for using and abusing his slaves in a manner that was beyond disgusting to the point that other System Lords feared him.

"You have never taken a...Pet before my Lord." Le'um stated, confused by his master's strange request.

The Prime shouted at the posturing man. "Do you dare question your god! Our wise Master has seen the worth of having such a rare pet and the respect it will gain him from the other Gods! Impudence!" His voice rang across the room and possibly down the hall past where the guards waited, uncomfortably shifting from foot to foot from the exchange.

"Pardon me Master, I never meant to question you. Please spare me for my lapse in judgment."

The Prime motioned for him to leave with the wave of his hand. "Leave, I will deal with you later." It was the Prime job to keep the other Jaffa in line, a God shouldn't have to deal with such mundane things.

Le'um backed out of the room slowly, his eyes still flickering around the room trying to find Eelien, she didn't like the cunning sharpness in his eyes. He was a man with his own agenda and she had heard him conspiring with other guards about the previous First Prime who now seemed to be dead.

Once he was in the hall the doors slammed shut with a loud BANG and the room grew deathly quiet. No one moved or spoke as they listened for anyone still standing in the hall that may eavesdrop.

When it seemed like the coast was clear Lantash jumped to his feet and pulled the mask off. "What the hell are you doing Rak'nor! I asked for help but I didn't mean that!"

Eelien was confused and shocked. He wasn't supposed to show his face to anyone as the god Amun and spoke to the Prime as if he knew him personally.

Rak'nor rolled his shoulders and sat on the abandoned throne that Lantash had vacated, propping his feet up over one of the arms. "We have a lot to discuss actually, I did some digging as you asked about the women and stumbled upon something else. We may need her help in the future and you need to get word to the Tok'ra that you will need to stay." He stated.

"What's happening?" Lantash asked and began to pull the heavy silks and gold beaded robes off.

Rak'nor signed and sat up. "Apparently the System Lords are having a big meeting in a couple of weeks and will disclose the location of the new Tok'ra and rebel Jaffa Alpha base the humans are allowing us to use. They have a mole in one of those groups. We need to find out what they know, warn everyone and find out who the mole is before everything we have been working towards is destroyed." He pulled a piece of fruit from a side table and bit into it. "Speaking of which, she didn't die, did she?"

Lantash shook his head and looked to the opened door to the bedroom, his eyes falling to hers from between the crack of the door frame and door. "It's ok Eelein, this is Rak'nor, a rebel Jaffa and my current mission."

She held her breath for a moment then decided to leave her hiding place. She stepped into the reception room pulling the shirt as low as she could to cover her body, she had never minded her nakedness before but after her exchange with Lantash and Martouf while wrapped around one another she felt exposed and vulnerable.

"Hello." She stated simply and hoped her face was blank and closed off, Lantash made it look easy but she was never good about hiding emotions.

Rak'nor blushed and looked away from her to Lantash giving him a long pointed look. "Well, she's been thoroughly thrashed I see. That didn't take long." He remarked in a snide tone.

Huh? What did that mean? Eelien asked Telmak, then remembered the implant was still powered down to reserve power.

Lantash glared at the man and looked back to Eelien. "There's a bathroom through that door that has hot water. I'll have some clothes brought up for you but you need to absorb a lot of heat if you're going to heal."

Eelien was still confused about Rak'nors words and shrugged, heading for the bathroom. She was still too tired and bruised and battered to care. She knew she would never be any good at reading social cues since that was something normal people started to learn at borth. Eelien instead had a handful of people all her fathers age teaching her how to maintain her implant and advanced mathematics. It would always be stressful when she was the only one in the room not reading between the lines.

Still the thought of soaking in a hot bath sounded tantalizing and Lantash was right she needed to absorb heat to heal her body and get Tekmak back up and running, she would beat answers out of both of them later.

The bathroom was massive with a sunk in tiled floor and three bronzed pipes protruding from the wall. One wall was a window that framed a picturesque scene of the large armada that surrounded the planet Amun must hold as his domain. The window had electric lines running through it so no outside ships could see it but she had a perfect view outside.

While hot steaming water poured into the massive bath Eelien turned to a wall sized mirror and was shocked by what she saw. Her bone white hair was an absolute mess, and that was being polite and her skin was a horrible shade of tan. This was deathly pale for her kind and did not bode well.

She pulled off the shirt and confronted the bruises in the early stages of healing, the raw whip lashes on her back and burn marks from Zat guns. Le'um had loved it when he realized that by lowering the temperature in her cell then the guns would have an effect on her when before they didn't. Strangely her lips were raw and throbbing and a wild glint showed in her eyes that she had never noticed before.

What had Rak'nor seen that prompted his earlier comment? Angry again she waded through the blistering hot water and sighed, instantly forgetting everything. Tekmak finally perked up for the first time in a long time, running diagnostics and berating her for getting hurt like a worried unreasonable mother. Ignoring her, Eelien laid back and floated along the surface of the water and closed her eyes.

If she tried hard enough she could imagine she was laying on the dunes of the world the Tok'ra inhabited when she first came to live with them.


End file.
